- Center becomes league’s second winner from Africa
- Philly star led the NBA in scoring this season
Philadelphia 76ers center and league scoring champion Joel Embiid earned his first NBA MVP trophy on Tuesday night, topping two-time winner Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
The 29-year-old from Cameroon, averaged 33.1 points to win his second straight scoring title, averaged 10.2 rebounds and tied a career high with 4.2 assists per game. Embiid played in 66 games, the second-highest total of his career, but has been hit again with injuries in the playoffs. Embiid has been sidelined with a sprained right knee that cost him one game of the playoff sweep against Brooklyn and the opening game of the Eastern Conference semi-finals against Boston, which was won by Philadelphia on Monday night.